GUJRAT: The district administration has sought Punjab government’s permission and funds for establishment of a big public park-cum-resort on a 90-acre piece of land along the bank of the River Chenab.

The site for the proposed ‘Chenab Park’ is located along the railway track and the old GT Road on the Gujrat side of the river. More than 70pc of the selected piece of land is owned by the provincial government while the remaining land is in possession of the Pakistan Railway.

The Chenab Park will have picnic resorts, restaurants, cafeterias, play land, joy land, a lake, five-kilometer jogging track and many other attractions for children and the youth.

The district government has moved a fresh plea to the railway for the issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for using the land for the public park.

The park at the site has been envisaged by successive political governments and district administrations for some two decades but the plan could not be materialised for various reasons.

Official sources said the plan was likely to materialise this time as the recently appointed District Coordination Officer Liaqat Ali Chatha enjoyed confidence of the PML-N Punjab leadership. He had been a deputy secretary at the CM’s office and staff officer of MNA Hamza Shahbaz.

The sources said according to a feasibility report prepared by Gujrat Town Municipal Administration, finance and revenue departments, the project’s estimated cost was Rs150 million.

Though funds for the project are initially being sought from the Punjab government, the sources, however, said that private investors could also be approached for the purpose on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

Meanwhile, a playground and a small park is being developed at some nine-acre piece of land along GT Road at Kathala.

The DCO told Dawn that a mini stadium for playing cricket, hockey and football was also part of the plan and an industrialist group had adopted that project.